Brendan Shanahan and Co. are "preparing for many options" with the 24th pick in the NHL Draft.

The Leafs, who are picking fourth overall, are one of a handful of teams with the luxury of having two picks in the opening round of the draft, which kicks off Friday night in Florida.

Shanahan expects to make a selection at No. 4 (most likely Dylan Strome, Noah Hanifan or Mitch Marner depending how the chips fall with the Arizona Coyotes), but the Leafs president is open to trading the 24th pick in an effort to move up or back in the draft.

After years of back and forth, the Toronto Maple Leafs have roared back from behind to win the Phil Kessel trade over the Boston Bruins.

As you might remember, former Leafs GM Brian Burke wasn't at all that fond of the long rebuild. That's why, in 2009, Burke sent a 2010 first round pick, a 2010 second round pick and another 2011 first round pick to the Boston Bruins for a 21-year old Phil Kessel.

At the time, it looked suspicious. Toronto didn't have any prospects of note, and could have really used those three picks. A year later, it looked even worse. The Leafs would finish second last that season, and the Bruins would draft an absolute stud in Tyler Seguin (and Jared Knight in the second round). Two years later, when Boston selected Dougie Hamilton with that other first round pick, well... Yeah, it was bad.

The talk all year has been Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, but the draft itself is especially fun because the other 200 players in the league end up tossed around, traded, signed, and essentially thrown into the vortex of chaos better known as 'GMs on the draft floor'.

I'm currently sitting in my beach house in Fort Lauderdale getting prepped for the draft (and waiting for the room to stop spinning, because I'm on the beach! There was Corona! Judge me) - so let's do a roundup of the best rumors, reports, and storylines coming out of the hockey universe today.

Maybe a grain of salt is required when the rumour comes from Mark Spector, but the man is on the ground in Florida, and there seem to be enough information for everyone to share, so I'll share his:

"The cash-strapped Coyotes are on the hunt for centremen, and have come to the conclusion that Gagner simply isn’t a fit. Arizona GM Don Maloney has been attempting to trade Gagner while at the NHL Draft, but chances are he would have to take someone else’s bad contract back. Maloney may settle for a buy-out at one-third of the money owed, as Gagner is still just 25 years old.

If bought out, the 25-year-old Gagner would perk the interest of the Leafs as a winger when free agency opens on July 1. Toronto needs young NHL players in their lineup, and Gagner would bring considerable experience at a relatively inexpensive price after being bought out."